An Archetypal Interpretation Of Lord Of The Flies

This thesis attempts to discover the archetypes in the novel Lord of the Flies by applyingthe theories of Northrop Frye and Carl Jung. According to the definition of Frye, the archetypeis a typical or recurring image which connects all the literary works together to form a literarytradition. This tradition brings creative materials and inspirations to the writers and influencesthe trend of the development of literature. Carl Jung refers to archetype as the content of thecollective unconscious that exists in every individual. The writer of this thesis believes thatWilliam Golding consciously and unconsciously uses the references and allusions from Greekmythology and Bible which provides the cultural background for Lord of the Flies.This thesis attempts to build an archetypal system of the novel Lord of the Flies and toaccount for the existence of the archetype from two aspects-literature and psychology. Bydoing so, Golding’s reflections on human nature can be manifested. Based on the studies of theGreek myth and Bible and research on the nature of Utopia and the meaning of Original Sin,this thesis is to demonstrate the archetypal characters in the novel so as to explore thearchetypal themes as well as to testify the application of the theory that literature producesliterature. As to the psychological aspect of archetype, this thesis applies Carl Jung’s definitionthat archetype is the content of the collective unconscious to explain the existence of archetype.The archetype is the appeal of the collective unconscious. When the collective unconscious isstimulated by the outer factors, it will be awakened. Then the collective unconscious will seeka way to demonstrate itself and the archetype is the channel.By digging out the archetypes and constructing a system of the archetypes in Lord of theFlies, this thesis accounts not only for the reason why all these archetypes exists but also forwhat role they play in disclosing the defects of human nature, thus offering a betterunderstanding of human beings.